Neil Patrick Harris’ Puppet Dreams Saves Us From Another Kevin Clash Lawsuit Story

Just when we were struggling to think of a new way of reporting on the latest lawsuit facing former Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, Neil Patrick Harris came bursting out of the darkness to rescue us — much the way he once saved Harold and Kumar from having to forgo their White Castle meal. NPH, partner David Burtka and none other than the Jim Henson Company teamed up to create Neil’s Puppet Dreams, a seven-part series on Nerdist.com about the actor’s tendency to “dream in puppet.”

The YouTube videos are a bit of a confusing mix of genres — in kind of the same way the original Muppet Show was. In the first episode, Neil, David and the accompanying Muppets (sorry, technically, they are “Henson Alternative Miscreant Puppets”) all exhibit the over-obvious, unnatural acting style of a kids’ show, spelling out everything that’s happening as it happens. But then they throw adult references and graphic depictions of violence into song lyrics about Neil’s falling dream. It’s endearingly silly, and we’ve always gotten giddy at the sight of NPH and his boyfriend, so it works.

But if you’re not yet sold on the idea, a “Behind-the-Scenes” video also up on Nerdist’s YouTube channel today has a few other features to draw you in: The promise of appearances by Joe Manganiello and Nathan Fillion. And jokes about dreaming of sex with cows, of course.